Tilting hay-fork.



PATENTED JAN 30, 1906.

H. 0. SPARKS. TILTING HAY FORK. APPLICATION rum) MAYIZ. 1905.

WWW 1 c a; e o- HENRY O. SPARKS, OF SHELBINA, MISSOURI.

TlLTlNG HAY-"FORK.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed May 12.1905. Serial No. 260,167.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. SPARKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shelbina, in the county of Monroe and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Tilting Hay-Fork, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to forks of that character employed in hay or fodder stacking apparatus, and is particularly intended for use in connection with a type of machine disclosed in a patent granted to me on April 1, 1902, No. 696,505, though not necessarily limited to such use.

One of the principal objects is to provide novel means of a simple nature for connecting the elevating mechanism to the fork, so that the load is more nearly centered thereupon, thereby better balancing said lead, making the forkeasy to trip, and overcoming to a very material degree the tendency of such fork to tip or turn sidewise when loaded heavier on one side than the other.

A'further object is to provide a structure wherein the connections of the elevating means with the fork are outside the fork member, and thus does not interfere with the loading or unloading of the fork by catching the material.

Still another important object is to provide a novel and simple extensible handle which will permit the more convenient operation and control of the fork as the stack increases in height.

The preferred but not the only form of construction is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved fork. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the fork with the handle-section detached, and Fig. 4c is a detail perspective view of the latch.

Similar reference-numerals designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- 1ngs.

In the embodiment illustrated a handle shank is employed comprising sections 5 and 6, the section 6 having a sleeve 7 at one end that is adapted to receive the adjacent end of the section 5. The free end of said section 5 is bifurcated, as shown at 8, and pivoted to and between the arms formed thereby is the rearwardly-extending stem 9 of a fork-body, said body consisting of across-bar 10, to which the stem is centrally fixed, said cross-bar being provided with the usual forwardly-extending tines 11. The cross-bar 10 of the forkbody has its terminals extended, said termi nals being forwardly and upwardly curved to form ears 12, said ears being located on opposite sides of the tines, with their free ends above the same and in advance of the crossbar. The fork is adapted to be employed in connection with any suitable elevating means, of which a portion of the cable 13 is shown, said cable being attached to the central eye 14 of a bail 15. This bail is located over the tines of the fork-body, transversely thereof, and has depending terminal portions 16 pivoted in the free ends of the ears 12. In order 'to prevent abnormal forward movement of the bail 15, a coiled spring 17 preferably connects the central portion of the bail and the free end of the handle shank. In order to hold the fork-body in operative position, a latch 18 is pivoted in the bifurcated portion of the shank-section 5 and has a sharp bill 19, that engages over the rear end of the stein 9, said end being beveled, as shown at 20, so that it will force back the latch and engage under the same when the fork-body is raised. The latch, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, is pivoted directly beneath the bill, so that it will effectively hold the fork, and is held in operative position by a coiled spring 21, connected to its lower end and to the shanksection. Said latch is arranged to be actuated by a cord 22, secured to its upper end and extending longitudinally along the shank-section 5, the rear end of said cord passing through the shank-section contiguous to the joints between the said sections. The cord 22 is provided near its rear end with an eye 23, that detachably receives a hook Qfh, carried by another cord 25, extending longitudinally along the section 6, said cord 25 being secured at its rear end to the rear end of the section 6 and having an eye 26, which is adapted to receive the hook, similar to the hook 524:, of another actuating-cord in case another section of handle-shank is to be placed thereupon.

In use the fork is first latched, as shown in Fig. 1, and is loaded in the ordinary manner. In starting a stack one section of the handle is sufiicient and more convenient for operating said fork. After the fork is loaded it is elevated by suitable means attached to the cable 13, and when the load is in proper position upon the stack the operator has only to pull the cord 22, thereby unlatching the fork and allowing it to drop to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, and the load thus drops from said fork onto the stack. As the stack increases in size the section 6 is applied to the handle and the cord 25 attached to the cord 22. While but two sections are shown in the present embodiment, it will be evident that as many may be employed as desired.

In this structure it will be observed that the bail 15 of the elevating means is located a considerable distance in advance of the pivot of the fork -stem, and thus the load is more equally balanced upon the fork. This makes it easier to unlatch or drop the fork, and, moreover, it Will be seen that the ends of the bail are located a considerable distance outside the fork-body, and thus will not interfere with the load by catching the material. Furthermore, by having an extended connection of this kind the tipping or turning sidewise of the fork when loaded more-heavily on one side than the other is avoided. By having the handle in sections, together with means located on each section for tripping the fork, the structure is made much more convenient, as it permits the use of a short handle when the stack is being started, so that the fork can be more readily controlled, and yet permits the use of a longer handle on a higher stack.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the ad vantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a tilting hay-fork, a fork having a cross-bar provided with offset terminals forming ears, tines carried by the cross-bar between the ears, and fork-elevating means connected to the ears.

2. In a tilting fork, a fork having a crossbar, forwardly-projecting tines carried by the cross-bar, the terminals of said cross-bar being offset and forming forwardly-extending ears that are located on opposite sides of the tines, and fork-elevatingmeansincludingabail pivoted to the ends of the ears and located over the tines.

3. In a tilting fork, the combination with a handle-shank, of a fork including a cross-bar, a rearwardly-extending stem pivoted to the handle-shank, forwardly-extending tines carried by the cross-bar, forwardly and upwardly extending ears connected to the ends of the cross-bar, and fork-elevating means including a bail having depending terminals pivoted to the ears, said bail extending over the tines.

4. In a tilting fork, the combination with a handle-shank, of a fork pivoted to the shank, a bail pivoted to the fork, a latch for holding the fork against pivotal movement on the handle-shank, and a spring connecting the bail and shank.

5. In a tilting fork, the combination with a fork, of a handle comprising detachable sections, said fork being pivotally connected to one end of one section, a latch mounted on said section for holding the fork against pivotal movement, an actuating device for the latch extending longitudinally along said section and secured thereto, and another actuating device connected to the other section and detachably connected to the first-mentioned actuating device.

6. In a tilting fork, the combination with a handle comprising detachably-connected sections, of a forkpivotally connected to the free end of one of the sections, a latch pivoted upon said section and engaging the fork to hold it against its pivotal movement, a cord connected to the latch at one end and having its other end attached to the section adjacent to the joint between the sections, said cord having an eye, and another cord secured to the rear end of the adjacent section and having a terl minal hook that detachably engages said eye.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses HENRY o. SPARKS.

Gno. WV. HUMPHREY,

I Witnesses:

FRANK. DIMMITT. 

